(Closed) How much do you spend on average per child?

Because my step daughter gets WAY more than my siblings and I ever did as kids!

Last year was my first year doing Christmas for my step daughter and I remember being shocked at how much they spend in their family on Christmas! Piles of toys. PILES. I kind of forgot how crazy it is until this year. I am sitting in piles of toys again.

When I was a kid we used to get maybe 8-10 presents total (Santa, parents, siblings all combined)

This little girl has PILES.

It is totally fine. Different families are different. While not what I would do on my own, this is what Christmas has always been to her so I am more than happy to carry the torch with my FI. It is kinda fun…

How much do you spend per child on christmas? How many do they get?

I would say that our little one got probably 30 packages. No clue what the total price tag was.

@freshflowers: I spent about 200 that included one toy,her stocking and clothes. I also bought her a few movies. My fiance spent about 70-80 dollars that consisted of 2 toys and DVD set. Everyone thought she got spoiled and we bought too much. She is 15 months old.

I would say we spent about $200 or so on our 2 year old but that also includes presents from grandpa/grandma because DH’s parents rather send money and then we buy whatever and then also a present from his great aunt who sent money

(There was another post here earlier today, where a Bride / Adult felt overwhelmed by the show of wealth shown at her Inlaws)

The fact is…

Every family handles Christmas Traditions / Customs differently… and if they believe in Santa… or Gift Giving they tend to BUDGET for that differently as well.

This is the part a lot of people forget:

Some people have more disposible income…

Some people go in debt for Christmas

Some people prioritize Christmas as an Event differently than others etc.

Growing up I came from a family where day-to-day expenses were fairly “steady”… we never went without… but there was no BIG Show of wealth… things were bought strictly on an as needed basis (so new clothes for us kids Labour Day before Back to School… and Easter… if a Coat or Boots were need for Winter they were bought just before the season… same with Shorts or a Bathingsuit in the Summertime). There was always enough… but no excesses

The exception was Christmas. My Father grew up in a poor Farming Household… dirt poor.

Money was put aside each Fall after the Harvest specifically to ensure that the “necessities & niceities” were bought for Christmas.

This is the way I grew up. There were always clothes amongst the toys & sporting equipment. There was a LARGE amount of presents and as a kid / teen I’d have to say that ALL My Wishes came true.

When I met & married my Ex-H he too was overwhelmed by the generosity of my Parents / Family… having come from a setting where each person would receive perhaps 3 or 4 items IN TOTAL.

Lol, he quickly adjusted.

The secret for us as a couple, (and my Parents in those days) was making Christmas a PRIORITY… and Budgeting for it all year long.

This was especially so once kids came along…

I would do as my Parents had done for eons… buy a Canada Savings Bond one year, and cash it the next… or as I got older and a better saver, just calculate what I’d need based on the previous year, and put that money away monthly.

WE ALL made out like bandits for sure.

Kids more than the adults… as they’d get gifts from other people than just Santa, Mom & Dad… they also were the ONLY GrandKids on both sides… so Grammas & Grampas often went overboard too.

We didn’t measure Gifts by the number of packages… we measured by the amount of money budgeted. So ya the number of Gifts per person was never equal… but the value was.

On the otherhand, like I said, in our household like my Parents that was it. Other than Birthdays there wasn’t a lot of extras given throughout the year for “miscellaneous” spending… (allowance wasn’t even a big deal in our house). People got what they needed, when it was deemed needed.

So Labour Day & Easter were New Clothes. Birthday a couple of presents… and Christmas a boat-load… all your wishes coming true.

Other families give stuff to their kids year round…

“Hey look at my new Cell Phone my Dad got me”

“Birthday ?”

“Nope, just needed / wanted a new one”

That stuff didn’t happen in our house… infact unless you absolutely needed a piece of sporting equipment cause one had worn out / broken… it too went onto the Christmas List as things you’d LIKE

Our Rule of Thumb for spending kept us in good stead for over 20 years (1980s to 2000s)

Kids = $ 300 each

Spouse = $ 200

GrandParents = $ 100 each

Other Relatives = $ 25 to $ 50 each depending on their relationship with us

Today, these amounts have been adjusted only slightly. The kids tend to get closer to $ 400. GrandParents & Other Relatives remain the same. And Mr TTR & I aren’t one to exchange “wrapped presents”… we now to tend to more enjoy “Experiences”… so throw what would have been our Christmas Money into a Weekend Away or Vacation.

The one thing we do do at Christmastime is Entertain… either at home or out with Friends. And we also take adantage of the Sales to usually add to / update some of our Household stuff (I’ve already made a list of Kitchen Gear I’m after during the January White Sales)

So ya, it is all a matter of priorities, and how one WANTS TO spend THEIR MONEY

I don’t have kids, but my parents’ Christmas budget for us 3 kids growing up was $500/kid. I think it’s way too much money!

DH’s family struggles with money and so get far less. This year was my first Christmas with their family and it was so filled with love and everyone was so appreciative of the hearfelt gifts they received. It reinforced for me that we will not be spoiling our kids with mounds of gifts. It’d almost embarrassing when DH comes to my family’s ChristmaS.

Working in inner city schools had also given me a lt of perspective. My heart broke this year when one of my 1st grade students asked me “why doesn’t Santa ever visit me? I’m good!”

@frommisstomrs.: two hundred isnt that much… And an otter box can make those things practically indestructible…. But it’s crazy that we live in a word were little kids have access to such advanced technology…

This Time Round: +1000 — it absolutely depends on the family and what they want to spend. if I had the money, I’d spend so much money on my loved ones. I absolutely love gift giving, and it gives me great satistifaction to make those people that I love happy.

@freshflowers: I don’t have any kids, but I know a set of parents who give their kids around $1,000 in cash plush maybe $200-300 in presents. The kids are in college/just getting out of college and they’re pretty practical gifts like starting a Roth IRA fund for them, giving them cash, gas gift cards, etc. The kids aren’t spoiled at all, and are very well-rounded, down-to-Earth, grateful people. By far the best family I’ve ever met.

My grandparents send me $200-300 for my birthday (early December), and $500-700 for Christmas. Just a check, and I usually buy one thing for myself (less than $100), pay any bills I might need to, and then put the rest into a savings account to help pay for my car repairs/school books.

I don’t think everyone that gets a lot of money or presents is spoiled. I think it absolutely depends on the family and people in question.

We don’t have kids. My parents spent about $200 on each child. While I really appreciate my parents’ generosity, I don’t think it’s necessary.

DH and I spend about $50 on each other for holidays. It’s more than enough. This year we’re back in school so we decided to spend $30 instead. We had an amazing Christmas! We got really creative; we made some presents and purchased others.

I hope that our kids get to have the same experience. I know it sounds cheesy but there’s so much joy in thinking of presents, making/finding them and then watching someone else enjoy them. It’s all about the thought, not the cost.